Head Coach Chan Gailey
Thursday, August 23, 2012
On if the Steelers will be a good test for the team:
It is really a mental challenge which is something we need. We need a mental challenge, but it will be a very physical challenge too because they are a physical football team. So yeah, this is a great challenge for our football team to go out, play a half and see what we can do.
On getting excited about the chance to play against a physical team:
Yeah, you do. You want to be physical. You want to set the tone. You do not want to have the tone set against you. You want to set the tone in the football game.
On the Steelers doing the same things in the preseason as they will in the regular season:
That is what they do. They get ready to play. They have all of their blitz packages and they have all of their coverage packages. They do it all and they are good at it. They are fast and explosive as well. It will be a challenge for our line protection to hold up.
On the respect he has for Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau:
I have the greatest respect for Dick. He and I worked together for a year and I just think the world of Dick LeBeau. I think he is a great football coach and a great person as well. I do not know if it is a match-up this time of year, but it is going to be great to see him. I know that.
On where RB C.J. Spiller is in terms of pass blocking:
C.J. is right on the money. He knows everything now. It is not as easy as some people might think to figure it out. But he has it all down pat. If that was my biggest problem, I would not have a problem.
On whether CB Terrence McGee or CB Justin Rogers will play:
We are going to try to play them, yes. Unless something major happened today or happens between now and game time, we are going to try and play both of them.
On how much McGee and Rogers will play:
Not too much, just enough to get their feet wet a little bit.
On if it important to come out fast against the Steelers after having game planned for this game:
You would like to. That is certainly something that you would like to do. I am going to go back to my same verbiage—we need to get better, we want to see improvement and we want to see the little things get better. I do not know what that will show. It should show more production but we have to get better.
On DT Torell Troup going on the injured reserve:
I told him today when we visited that I was proud of him for the way he fought to get back, but he just could not make it. We saw he was not going to make it this year so we wanted to let him not worry about it anymore and go get well. We will give him a run next year.
C Eric Wood
Thursday, August 23, 2012
On where the offensive line is right now:
We have high expectations for our group this year. We had a pretty good year last year, so we want to pick up where we left off. Anytime you bring in as many new guys as we have, and every offensive line has this during this time of year, you expect a lot out of everybody. The 1s are not where they should be but it takes time. The 2s and 3s when they are shuffling them around—sometimes the perception of them is not always as good because they are all asked to do a lot of things for evaluation purposes. They will get better as we keep going.
On how he is individually progressing:
It is coming along well. A lot of it, so far, has been getting my technique back so I do not necessarily have to think about that pre-snap. That comes with film study. The more film you study, the quicker you are going to be out on the field. Luckily the first couple opponents this year are people we have faced so it is not like it is going to be anything I have never seen before. But you still have to prepare for everything. Of course the Jets package will be huge against us. That is definitely something that we are going to have to work on.
On helping rookie LT Cordy Glenn adjust to the NFL game:
I give him little pointers all the time and try to help him out. He has a lot of talent and he has a lot on his shoulders right now. He is doing a great job. Probably the best thing about him is he is a really even-keeled kid. I kind of ride with my emotions at times. I always mess with him and tell him I wish I had his demeanor at times. I am sure he wishes he had mine at times. He is going to have a consistent year for us because he can kind of control his emotions and he does not ride with the ups and downs of the game—like a good quarterback. He is a consistent player for us over there.
DT Dwan Edwards
Thursday, August 23, 2012
On DT Torell Troup going on injured reserve:
It is a tough deal for him. (He) had a back surgery last year, came out and it did not seem like he was quite comfortable. It is a tough deal losing a guy like him but it is part of the game.
On Troup's effort to get on the field:
You could tell he wanted to play but if your body does not allow you to, there is not much you can do about it.
On if the defense can cut down on allowing big plays: Definitely. It only takes a small thing – like a missed tackle, missed communication in coverage or a bad step – for a team to get a big play. That is all it takes for a big play to happen. But definitely (there are) some things that we can focus on, correct through practice and just keep working on.
